InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Breathless ❯ Concurrence ( Chapter 56 )

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi are the owners of Inuyasha and Sailor Moon, not the author of this story.

 

 

Chapter Fifty Five.

 

 

`Concurrence'

 

 

“I do not recall asking for your opinion, Totosai” the Demon Lord hissed at the blacksmith.

 

 

“Think about it, though. If you fail to do it, you may never find out why Tenseiga's been reacting to her in this way, or why is it that it wants you to do this. You might never find out whether there is a true purpose behind this”

 

 

A very long silence took place before they heard the Tiyoukai's decision.

 

 

“…Very well”

 

 

Once they were done with the discussion, the secret onlooker watched how the Dog Demon and the winged human girl decided how they would go about it. He watched the girl try to explain as the Taiyoukai got more and more impatient. Greeting her teeth to reign on her fluster, the blonde did her best to shrug off the threats that the cold Youkai Lord threw her way in case her little ruse didn't work to his liking. Finally, after what'd seemed like hours of endless blabbering, the spy saw with satisfaction as each took hold of one piece of the Sword of Heaven and concentrated.

 

 

Minutes before the power had started to gather, they were all blinded by a surge of silver sparkle: The Sword of Heaven was repaired.

 

 

But the silvery radiance was `not' coming from the Sword…

 

 

The moment they all saw the manner in which the burst of power had altered the blonde's form, all jaws hit the floor in complete and uter astonishment…

 

 

---

 

As he watched these events through his Mind's Eye aided by the tight grasp on his Crescent Moon staff, Shishinki sneered in frustration. It'd been almost two weeks since his attack on the `Moon Princess', and still that bloody Taiyoukai had failed to discard of her as of yet… Having the reputation of human-hater he was known for, the masked youkai had hoped it'd take less than a couple of days for Inu no Taisho's elder son to get fed up with the company of an extra ningen in his group; yet there he was, apparently catering to her wishes like an obedient domestic pup…

 

 

The mere image itself would have made the masked demon feel sick.

 

 

“I would have expected more from you, Lord Sesshoumaru… but seems you've turned like your father more than I had thought,” he snorted.

 

 

It wouldn't matter though. The end would be the same. Shishinki simply couldn't afford for that girl to continue to live: her mere presence in this world was just too dangerous. She was the only one who could bring the means to his defeat, which was something not even Sesshoumaru could do, at least not by himself… not without the help of either the girl or that hanyou brother of his, `Inuyasha'; something that, according to the rumors concerning their relationship, would most likely never happen, to the masked demon's relief.

 

 

Frowning to himself one more time, he wondered why the Lady of the West had decided to confide in him the news about her son coming across a last remnant of the Moon Kingdom; it was like the female inuyoukai had wanted him to go and get rid of it for her… which sounded a bit strange, given her late husband's connections with the ancient civilization. Shishinki didn't like it: it sounded too much like a trap that she'd sent him to, enough to be the end of him if he wasn't careful. This was the reason, he wasn't going to expose himself as of yet. No… He would send someone else first, to test Sesshoumaru's prowess, in case the Demon Lord got in the way.

 

 

Grasping his staff tightly, he opened a portal to the Underworld and summoned one of the most dangerous wraiths.

 

 

“You know what you have to do…”

 

 

The creature just nodded.

 

 

---

 

 

Hours later…

 

 

“May be it's time you give it up, woman. Whatever you're attempting to do to change your new appearance now, and get it back to the way it was obviously isn't working; though I must say I am impressed by your keen talent of adopting new forms merely by the instantaneous replacement of your clothing” Sesshoumaru said a bit snidely watching the blonde from his comfortable seat against a tree deep in the forest. For even though that new shape of hers, as she called it, had settled upon her hours ago, she was `still' hyperventilating and running madly back and forth right in front of him, Jaken, Totosai, and the still gaping Rin and Kohaku.

 

 

It was somewhat amusing, watching the blonde fluster like this.

 

 

Only…, she was no longer a blonde. He flittingly took note of that as he watched the now even longer tresses of hair that cascaded down her back in two rivers of silver.

 

 

Silver…

 

 

Part of him still couldn't believe she was now actually matching his hair color. His ears ringed as Rin's previous outburst when he'd first seen her back at the village, after the sword was repaired, was once again excitedly repeated:

 

 

“Wow… Usagi-san, how pretty!!! Now you look a lot like Sesshoumaru-sama!!”

 

 

The Demon Lord mentally winced.

 

 

He sincerely hoped that didn't mean Rin thought that HE would actually look good in a fancy dress…

 

 

…Because `that' was what the no-longer-blonde was wearing at that moment: her previous wings having disappeared, she now donned a pretty vaporous, translucent white, ballroom western-like fancy dress…

 

 

And she did not look in the least happy about it.

 

 

“No, no, no, no, no, no…” they all heard her wail in mortification for what had to be the thirtieth time that day after they'd left her resurrected village behind, and the Inu Lord no longer thought he was the only one becoming increasingly bored with it; but she continued “Why did just fixing your sword make me transform in this way?!? It wasn't supposed to happen!” `This is almost idiotic… Why, why, why did this stupid form have to choose NOW of all times to manifest?! I thought I had used by powers subtly enough to prevent something like this from occurring… Why did it have to go off just the same?!?' she privately screamed bloody murder in the sanctuary of her own mind.

 

 

“Well, I must say that is true,” Totosai admitted, watching her fumble furiously with the still impressive shinning, delicate gown, “Of all the miraculous deeds I knew that Tenseiga was capable to carry out, altering someone's apparel wasn't really one of them until now,” he scratched his nearly bald head. “It'd never done that before…” he said as he stared down at the Heavenly Fang in his arms in confusion “had it, Sesshoumaru?”

 

 

The Inuyoukai didn't deign that with an answer, but Jaken certainly did for him. “Of course not! That's outrageous! Sesshoumaru-sama isn't walking around there changing people's wardrobe, you delirious blacksmith! What are you suggesting!??”

 

 

However, there was no surprise there when he was just ignored.

 

 

“Totosai,” the Taiyoukai asked instead, “Has the sword been successfully fixed?”

 

 

“It looks like it is” the weapon master told him as he examined the restored Fang in his hands carefully.

 

 

“Good. That was all I wanted to know. However… do you happen to know a demon by the name of `Shishinki', Totosai?”

 

 

It wasn't his imagination, the Demon Lord said then to himself: even if it'd been for only a few seconds, he'd clearly seen the way the sword-maker flinched at the sound of that name.

 

 

How curious.

 

 

“Why do you ask that?”

 

 

“I've been meaning to question you for some time…” the Taiyoukai drawled, finally voicing what'd been preoccupying his mind, “When I found this girl, right before the cataclysm took place, she'd been attacked by a masked demon who claimed to be this Shishinki. It was quite intriguing for me to see that his staff also possessed the magical technique of the Meidou Zangetsu-ha,” he finished acidly. “Do you know why that could be?”

 

 

“Sesshoumaru…” the sword craftsman swallowed hard before continuing, “Whatever you might be thinking, you are wrong: I did not sell your Father's technique out for another demon to fuse into their own weapon; I would have never betrayed him like that”

 

 

“Then you say…it was just a fateful coincidence?” the pristine Dog chided maliciously, enjoying the older youkai's discomfort.

 

 

“I will not deny that it isn't” the other quickly amended, sweating hard “but the means through which Shishinki who was one of your late Father's greatest enemies, acquired the Meidou Zangetsu-ha are not the ones you suspect. Before you make any accusations against me, you must first hear me out”

 

 

“Talk,” the Demon Lord blunted plainly as a manner of encouragement.

 

 

“Um…okay” the elderly man sweat-dropped, “Remember what I told you before, about the Goddess Hecate's mementos?”

 

 

“You mean Hecate no Megami's mementos?” Sesshoumaru corrected him sarcastically, the same way the sword-smith had corrected him that time. “What about them?”

 

 

“As you must recall, they're no superfluous items; they hold great power which could bring the world that we know to cease to exist… They're the original, ancient source of some of your Father's, and hence Tetsusaiga's and Tenseiga's most mysterious abilities, but they were so extremely dangerous, they were entrusted to your late Father for protection so they wouldn't fall in the wrong hands. He was ordered to hide them where no one else would ever find them… One of them, the Key to the Underworld, was the origin of the skills you now possess through Tenseiga.

 

 

“Long ago, before your honorable Father's death,” the wizened demon replied in all seriousness “Shishinki found out where he kept the Underworld Key, and used it to empower his own weapon-staff. It would have been disastrous if he'd managed to do more than that, but fortunately for this world, and all the creatures that live in it, your Father eventually found a way to stop him, and get back the Key. From then on, he saw to it that it was kept in a safer place… That, and no other, is the reason why you and Shishinki now share the same form of power,”

 

 

This actually made the Youkai Lord stop as he was thinking. “So, he stole the attack?”

 

 

“In a way…you can say that” Totosai nodded nervously, rushing to change the subject. “Now, if I may ask, what did Shishinki want with that young woman who accompanies you?”

 

 

“That is what I'm also wondering…” Sesshoumaru murmured, turning to look at her.

 

 

Meanwhile, Usagi was too distracted fussing at herself in dismay, whereas the two human children watched her.

 

 

“This is so embarrassing… I can't stay in this form while in this place…” `I can't walk around the jungle looking like a rip-off Neo Queen Serenity… People will stare at me' “I just can't!”

 

 

“Why not, Usagi-san?” Rin asked her innocently, tilting her head to the side, “I think you look very nice!”

 

 

“Thanks Rin-chan,” the young woman sighed, appreciating the child's support “but I have to find a way to get out of this dress before we continue our journey, or there might be trouble!”

 

 

`No matter what I do, I just can't make it back into my sailor fuku… argh. Seems like I will have to get used to this… This is just great! I can only deal with it… and hope that this inability to revert back be transitory as much as it is annoying'

 

 

`However… what really scares me… is the fact that if I've come so close to completely adopting the form of the Neo Queen so early after I awakened, then it might not be long before I fully return to being Cosmos'

 

 

`And when that happens… I… I will have no choice but to… to--'

 

 

“Are you saying that you will continue to travel with us some more time?” Kohaku question interrupted her musings as he said this hesitantly… hopefully. He rather liked having her in their group, despite her being an oddity.

 

 

“I don't know… There is nowhere else for me to go for the time being, truthfully,” she replied with honesty, as she tried to reign on her state of anxiety and sat down with them on the ground, her luxurious gown sprawled all around her as well as her newly acquired silver mane, “I can't go back to my old youkai friends…” `I no longer know who to trust' “The people of the village have just been resurrected… If this Naraku person is after me, I don't want them to expose themselves to anymore danger”

 

 

The Demon Lord looked at her when he heard her say this.

 

 

“I'll hold you to your part of the deal, woman, and interrogate you about your real identity and origins later... but whatever secrets you possess, if you're truly the reason Naraku attacked that human town,” he drawled, looking at her intently, “then I've realized you're more useful to me if you're kept close enough; Naraku will come for you, as well as for the taijiya boy, and when he does… I shall slay him”

 

 

“And I might not have a problem with it, once you decide to do so,” Usagi responded, clenching her fists and trembling in what was residual rage. `Kaede-baba, Saki-chan, Yumi-chan… Ryouji…' “I will never forgive that guy for what he's done to many people I hold dear”

 

 

For a couple of seconds, the Taiyoukai and the woman in the white dress just stared at each other in silent measurement, before nodding to one another in what seemed like a look of perfect approval, and concurrence.

 

 

…And in spite of what some might believe, the peculiarity of the entire gesture didn't get past a currently rather observant blacksmith.

 

 

---

 

 

Far from there, in another place, an old Buddhist monk by the name of Ungai was leading his itinerant group towards the place where he knew the feel of supernatural presences, such as a huge amount of demons, was coming from. Some of the other monks had felt it too; the presences of blood-thirsty demons lashing out on a village that many knew was in that direction, and thus were a bit afraid to continue, uncertain of what they might come across with.

 

 

However, as monks that they were and humans with considerable spiritual powers it was their duty to take a look, and so they would do, as Ungai repeatedly assured his companions.

 

 

“We will go to that place and confirm whether these demons have truly attacked a human village, and if they have, we will exterminate them”

 

 

“But Ungai-sama,” one of the other, younger ones rushed to say “what if these aren't just the usual demons we're dealing with? What if there's something else down there? The others and I, we have just felt a very strong presence coming from down there, Ungai-sama… something that can't possibly be the aura of an assembly of lesser demons. What if it's one of those great, all powerful Demon Lords like the one you faced months ago, to rescue that little girl, and who defeated you?”

 

 

“That was a one-time event and it will not occur again,” the wiser, older monk growled in ire at being reminded of his foiled encounter with that particular silver-haired Dog Demon, the memory of which still spited him, “As you all remember, the child chose to follow the youkai in spite of my warnings; therefore she chose her own fate. We might not be able to save such demented people from themselves, but we can, and we must save people who're being unjustly attacked by youkai… and if it is one of those powerful Taiyoukai's who's also involved in this matter, then we'll try to stop him as well as it's possible. Do you all understand?”

 

 

“Yes, Ungai-sama” the other religious men answered as they quickly disbanded to resume their travel, encouraged by their leader's scalding, reprobating look.

 

 

Although seeing some of them still acted frightened, the man himself let out a breath.

 

 

“It is quite well that you decided to join us too, my lady” he said to the single female person in their group, their newest companion for a while. “If there truly is a Taiyouki roaming down there, Hitomiko, I might be in need of your help”

 

 

The raven haired Shinto priestess standing near his side solemnly assented.

 

 

“I will do what I can, Ungai-sama…”

 

 

To Be Continued.

 

 

A/N: What do you guys think? Will Ungai and Sesshoumaru come to cross paths yet again? If any of you guys don't recognize Hitomiko from the manga, then at least you should recognize Ungai, and his group of traveling monks, from the anime (episode 162 “Together Forever with Sesshoumaru-sama”, a Rin-centered one, to give more clues), for he was a rather interesting filler-character.

 

 

Ja Ne!